One year in Iraq - the perils and wonders of making a documentary film about Assyrians.

Saturday, 8 September 2012

Renaming the blog

Will probably have to rename the blog. Spending possibly not one day in Iraq, and maybe definitely not a whole year. My money is down to such an amount that I can't stay there without income. Que sera. I have really lost momentum, and am settling into this hostel like a bed bug. I really like it here. Am tired of the relentless chasing up people for interviews, finding venues, angsting, etc etc.

All I like to do us go out during the day with my camera and film.

This place feels like a spiritual retreat, except the guru is a Jack Russell terrier and me, sitting watching the squirrels.

Not sure what to do. The Oriental Institute in Chicago where I was going to film two interviews and also take photos of their Assyrian reliefs is still having construction work done. The Deputy Secretary of State in Washington who was going to give me an interview isn't saying yes or no to doing it yet.

I have contacted a lady in Iraq who might be able to find me a job either in Iraq or the US working on something to do with Iraq's environment. So I have to wait about that too.

And I've asked about working here as the owners of the hostel are opening a cafe next door and they've said I could probably work there in return for staying here. It would be ok for a few weeks I think. And it would mean I could stay here and wait out the other stuff. It's either that or continue on back to NZ. Which appears ok but I know as soon as I hit the ground I will start to feel depressed.

But I will have to wait for that too, the cafe, as there's some delay in getting the water and electricity on. Maybe one or two weeks, or more. So it's a bit of a gamble.

I'll probably do the latter, money be damned. It's the only thing I want to do right now. Just chill here with interesting people in a nice place. It's a suspension of reality I know. But it does my heart good.